Buhari’s aides confirm Akpabio’s defection

An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed that Senator Godswill Akpabio will defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress on Wednesday.

Akpabio, the Nigerian Senate’s minority leader and a former governor of Akwa-Ibom in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, has been a staunch critic of the APC-led government.

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“I’m confirming that the APC family as earlier indicated will formally receive H.E, Godswill Akpabio on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8,2018 at an elaborate ceremony in Akwa-Ibom State,” Buhari’s adviser on National Assembly (Senate) matters and former senator Ita Enang said.

Akpabio’s defection will hand the APC, which only recently lost about 15 senators including Senate President Bukola Saraki to the leading opposition party the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a massive boost in the South-south as the country gears up for its next general elections in February.

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It will also help the APC hold on to its majority in the Senate.

In preparation for his switch of the party, Akpabio met with Senator Bola Tinubu in Lagos and President Muhammadu Buhari, who is on a 10-day holiday in London.